News Briefs

Animal Rights

Bob Barker, longtime host of the game show The Price is Right and animal-rights advocate, has given $1 million to the Law School to establish an animal law program. Law professor Mimi Riley will lead the new program, which will include coursework, guest speakers and a writing competition focused on animal law, which is emerging nationally as an area of legal study.

New Dorms

The University’s next batch of new residence halls on Alderman Road will be six stories high and are expected to open in 2011 and 2012 (the eight-story Bice House is UVA’s tallest housing structure). Balz, Dobie and Watson houses will be razed to make way for the new dorms.

Record Set

A record 21,511 students have applied for 3,170 places in the fall’s entering undergraduate class, an increase of more than 16 percent over last year’s applicant pool. This year’s applicant pool includes 22 percent more African-American students, 56 percent more Hispanic students, 50 percent more international students and 100 percent more Native American students.